Good Company



Earlier in the week I said that I wasn't feeling at my brightest and best. You'll be glad (I hope) to hear that I'm feeling a bit brighter (though I do have to learn from this and behave myself), and a big part in me feeling better is the support and encouragement of family and friends, some knowingly others not. I got an invite to coffee from one colleague just when I was at my absolute nadir, without him having any idea how low I was; I got a word of encouragement from two members of the congregation relaying the positive feedback of others (something that doesn't happen too often) and a friend sent me this reflection shared by their Pastor Vincent Buchanan, at the Good Shepherd Mission last Sunday... Its an adaptation of a piece that has been doing the rounds since long before the internet was invented (don't know whether Vince adapted it himself or not), but it was helpful to me at this time and hopefully it will be helpful to someone else... It stands as a useful counterbalance to the an inappropriate reading of Hebrews 11's rollcall of the faithful, and the tendency we have to paint a picture of "victorious Christian living" that is both unbiblical and unhelpful. I was going to tweak it to put more of my "style" on it, but I've neither the time nor the energy for that at the moment, so, instead here it is exactly as it was sent to me...




'If you ever feel unworthy or inadequate then you are in good company:

Abraham lied
So did Jacob - frequently
Noah got drunk
Hosea's wife was a prostitute
Gideon doubted
So did Thomas
So did John the Baptist
Moses was a murderer
So was Paul
So was David
Who was also an adulterer
Jeremiah was a depressive
Elijah was burnt out
Jonah ran away from God
As did all the disciples, from Jesus
when he was arrested
Peter denied Jesus because he was afraid of death
Lazarus was dead
Samson had a short fuse
So did Moses
So did Peter (we could go on ...)

So, if you are aware of your own inadequacies you are in good company!'




Shalom

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Woman of no Distinction

Don't often post other people's stuff here... But I found this so powerful that I thought I should. It's a performance poem based on John 4: 4-30, and I have attached the original YouTube video below. A word for women, and men, everywhere... "to be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known."


I am a woman of no distinction
of little importance.
I am a women of no reputation
save that which is bad.

You whisper as I pass by and cast judgmental glances,
Though you don’t really take the time to look at me,
Or even get to know me.

For to be known is to be loved,
And to be loved is to be known.
Otherwise what’s the point in doing
either one of them in the first place?

I WANT TO BE KNOWN.

I want someone to look at my face
And not just see two eyes, a nose,
a mouth and two ears;
But to see all that I am, and could be
all my hopes, loves and fears.

But that’s too much to hope for,
to wish for,
or pray for
So I don’t, not anymore.

Now I keep to myself
And by that I mean the pain
that ke…
Read more

An Epistle To Our Elected Leaders

Image
Dear DUP and Sinn Fein, 

My friend Stocki has already sent you, and our other political leaders, an open letter, and social media suggests that many agree with what he says (including myself), but I was already writing this when I saw his, and whilst it covers similar ground, and fewer may read this, I want to add my tuppence (especially since it takes a lot to get me writing these days!) And at the heart of it is this, I recognise that you both have a legitimate electoral mandate. The big question is what you do with it. Both of you have made great play of the fact that people voted for you on the basis of your statements before the election. Now I have no desire to get into the legitimacy of those positions. You campaigned on them and you each were elected on those platforms. Both of you grew your vote in a highly polarised election, and whilst the DUP lost a significant number of seats they are still the largest party. So you both have a mandate. And so far in the negotiations you …
Read more

Advent Candle Liturgy 5: Christmas

Image
The culmination of our advent candle liturgy at Dundonald Methodist for this year. It can be used at a Christmas eve service or on Christmas morning... We'll be using it tomorrow...
Hope, peace, joy, and love. Four weeks, four candles, four promises made by God, and all of them find fulfillment in the one we light this morning: the Christ candle. In Christ we find the hope of transformation, the peace that this world cannot give, the fulfillment of joy and the love that embraces us in all our diversity and fallibility.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world d…
Read more